﻿300 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence. 
  

  

  most 
  remarkable 
  objects 
  of 
  their 
  kind 
  thus 
  far 
  discovered 
  in 
  any 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  They 
  occupy 
  more 
  extensive 
  areas 
  than 
  any 
  

   other 
  aggregation 
  of 
  fossil 
  trees 
  yet 
  described, 
  and, 
  moreover, 
  

   they 
  are 
  unique 
  in 
  retaining 
  the 
  trees 
  standing 
  upright 
  in 
  the 
  

   exact 
  positions 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  grew 
  originally. 
  The 
  trees 
  were 
  

   largely 
  conifers, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  attained 
  gigantic 
  proportions, 
  

   though 
  in 
  the 
  main 
  the 
  trunks 
  will 
  not 
  average 
  more 
  than 
  from 
  

   two 
  to 
  five 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter. 
  Nearly 
  all 
  the 
  localities 
  show 
  a 
  suc- 
  

   cession 
  of 
  these 
  silicified 
  forests 
  lying 
  one 
  above 
  another. 
  The 
  

   primitive 
  forest 
  was 
  buried 
  under 
  volcanic 
  debris, 
  probably 
  at 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  an 
  eruption, 
  and 
  gradually 
  petrified 
  by 
  waters 
  charged 
  

   with 
  silica. 
  After 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  quiet, 
  a 
  second 
  forest 
  gained 
  a 
  

   foothold 
  and 
  flourished 
  above 
  the 
  first. 
  In 
  its 
  turn, 
  the 
  second 
  

   was 
  buried 
  and 
  silicified 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  had 
  been. 
  At 
  the 
  locality 
  

   known 
  as 
  Fossil 
  Forest, 
  on 
  Amethyst 
  Mountain, 
  this 
  process 
  of 
  

   successive 
  burial 
  and 
  renewal 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  forests 
  was 
  repeated 
  

   through 
  two 
  thousand 
  feet 
  of 
  volcanic 
  material, 
  and 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  

   fifteen 
  forests 
  were 
  entombed. 
  The 
  mode 
  of 
  illustrating 
  the 
  

   species 
  of 
  trees 
  constituting 
  the 
  fossil 
  forests 
  is 
  somewhat 
  novel, 
  

   consisting 
  of 
  the 
  usual 
  photographs 
  showing 
  the 
  minute 
  struc- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  the 
  wood, 
  and 
  others 
  illustrating 
  the 
  fossil 
  trunks 
  as 
  they 
  

   appear 
  in 
  the 
  Park, 
  protruding 
  from 
  the 
  volcanic 
  deposits, 
  and 
  

   sometimes 
  standing 
  alongside 
  of 
  trees 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  existing 
  

   flora. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  section 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  biological 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  Ter- 
  

   tiary 
  flora 
  of 
  the 
  Park 
  many 
  interesting 
  comparisons 
  are 
  made 
  

   with 
  the 
  present 
  flora 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  region, 
  and 
  the 
  deduction 
  is 
  

   made 
  that 
  then 
  as 
  now 
  the 
  coniferous 
  type 
  of 
  tree 
  predominated, 
  

   though 
  there 
  was 
  much 
  greater 
  variety 
  during 
  Tertiary 
  time 
  than 
  

   now. 
  The 
  climate 
  also 
  was 
  considerably 
  warmer 
  and 
  approxi- 
  

   mated 
  the 
  conditions 
  at 
  present 
  existing 
  in 
  Virginia. 
  

  

  l. 
  v. 
  p. 
  and 
  c. 
  e. 
  b. 
  

  

  2. 
  The 
  Silurian 
  Hocks 
  of 
  Britain. 
  Vol. 
  I. 
  Scotland 
  ; 
  by 
  

   B. 
  N. 
  Peach 
  and 
  John 
  Hokne. 
  With 
  Petrological 
  Chapters 
  

   and 
  Notes 
  ; 
  by 
  J. 
  J. 
  H. 
  Teall. 
  Mem. 
  Geol. 
  Surv. 
  United 
  

   Kingdom, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  Plates 
  i-xxvii, 
  figs. 
  1-121, 
  with 
  map, 
  pp. 
  iii- 
  

   xviii, 
  and 
  1-749, 
  1899. 
  — 
  The 
  present 
  publication, 
  forming 
  the 
  

   first 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  Monographs 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  the 
  

   United 
  Kingdom, 
  on 
  the 
  Silurian 
  Rocks 
  of 
  Great 
  Britain 
  and 
  

   Ireland, 
  is 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  Silurian 
  formations 
  of 
  Scotland. 
  It 
  

   presents 
  a 
  detailed 
  summary 
  of 
  all 
  that 
  is 
  known 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   present 
  time 
  regarding 
  these 
  early 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  geological 
  his- 
  

   tory 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  This 
  volume 
  is 
  a 
  continuation, 
  in 
  style 
  and 
  

   size, 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Memoirs 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Great 
  Britain 
  

   and 
  of 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Economic 
  Geology 
  in 
  London 
  ;" 
  the 
  first 
  

   volume 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  published 
  in 
  1846, 
  and 
  Volume 
  III, 
  1st 
  

   edition, 
  was 
  published 
  in 
  1 
  866, 
  by 
  the 
  Director-General 
  Murchison, 
  

   and 
  a 
  second 
  edition 
  of 
  it 
  appeared 
  in 
  1881, 
  by 
  Director 
  Ramsay. 
  

   Many 
  new 
  facts 
  are 
  reported 
  worthy 
  of 
  special 
  notice, 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  

   which 
  we 
  hope 
  to 
  give 
  attention 
  in 
  a 
  future 
  issue. 
  

  

  